Moving UP to the ICN!!

Today my Mom took me to see the babies because David had been sick all day. Finally, the whole family (minus the twins thankfully) have gone through the flu bug, so we should be OK health-wise for a little while now I hope! Here pictured is my Mom holding little Daniel.

The good news for the twins is that at around 9pm this evening they were moved to the Intermediate Care Nursery (ICN) which is the nursery NICU patients go to after their care isn't as intensive. In this stage of their care, the staff really focus on trying to meet the goals the babies need to meet to get them home as soon as possible. Since, both of the boys are breathing well on their own, they have accomplished the first major step. The next steps are for them to feed primarily by bottle or breast only (no feeding tube) consistently for 24 hours or more and gain weight in the process. Daniel is gaining weight well (about 2-3 oz. each day so far) and today is weighing 4 pounds 13 oz. Caleb is gaining, but not as much (about 1 oz. a day) and is now officially back to his birthweight of 4 pounds 1 oz. However, it has been Caleb who has shown an interest in breastfeeding and Daniel who isn't quite ready yet. They are both showing progress in different ways though and we are thankful for that! We have been told by the nurses and doctors that the ICN is also a more "homey" environment. They have a breast pump at every station with built in curtains for privacy, which will be really nice!

Another nice piece of news is that Daniel is off the nasal cannula as well and his feeding tube was moved from his mouth to his nose. This will be much better when he does decide to breastfeed as he will get a better latch without a tube coming out of his mouth!

Little Caleb was too tired to breastfeed today. We came at a time when it wasn't his feeding time, so I just held him today and sang and talked to him. He wasn't as interested in opening his eyes as he usually does, but he was making faces at me; practicing how to frown and smile quite a bit.

It was nice to see them again today and I am thankful that they did not get our family flu! Praise God for that! David was sad he didn't get to come today, but we are hoping he can come in tomorrow instead! Daddy misses his little boys!